Google on Thursday issued an update to its Chrome browser for the iPhone and iPad. Available free of charge on the App Store, Chrome now lets you start using the app faster by providing a nifty little Today widget in the Notification Center with handy shortcuts to quickly access the voice search feature and tab creation functionality.

Moreover, the browser now plays nice with iOS 8’s App Extensions, starting with support for 1Password and LastPass extensions so you can use your previously stored passwords on websites.

After enabling the widget by tapping the Edit button at the bottom of the Notification Center’s Today view, you’ll notice a pair of handy buttons in the Notification Center: New Tab and Voice Search.

Tapping New Tab launches Chrome and creates a new tab while Voice Search takes you to the browser’s voice-search feature. Other changes include the pull-to-refresh functionality, the ability to easily close tabs and copy links from other apps.

Chrome 42.0.2311.47 changelog:

Start searching and browsing faster: quick access to Voice Search and open new tabs from the Today View.

Ergonomically-designed: Pull to reload and open/close tabs.

Support for iOS App Extensions, such as 1Password and LastPass.

Easily open links copied from other apps.

In other Google news, the Internet giant said Android users can now locate their stolen or misplaced device using Google Search, announced it will continue to provide regular updates and security patches to Chrome on Windows XP through the end of 2015 and released Chrome 43 on the beta channel for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Chrome 43.0.2311.18 for desktop contains many improvements including suggesting answers in the search box, support for new apps/extension APIs (including the Push API) and a bunch of under the hood changes for stability and performance.

Among the supported new APIs is the new Web MIDI API which allows websites to communicate with connected MIDI devices such as a USB-MIDI drum machine plugged into a tablet.

A video shown above demonstrates a MIDI device sending MIDI commands to the PC and the browser responding to the commands.

I understand the need for options when it comes to mobile browsers. But safari is by far the best imo. No matter what third party browser i try i always come back to safari. It just works. And for the rare occasion that i need flash i use puffin browser.

Andrew

Same. I went through a Chrome phase on both iOS and OS X and eventually came back to Safari, because it’s just so much more integrated, fast, smooth, and has pretty much implemented everything Chrome used to have over Safari.